Editorial

A New Kind of Warrior

We are living at an extraordinary-and extraordinarily dangerous-moment. Never before have the wages of our
transgressions, against each other and against the Earth itself, been so high.
Should we fail to develop a more conscious orientation to our stewardship, our
recklessness and irresponsibility could lead to global catastrophe. It is hard
to imagine a more critical juncture in the history of the world.

To pray for a world without poverty or war or hunger or
disease; to refuse to surrender to the chic complacency that has infused our
popular culture; to continue to commit ourselves, as global citizens, to the
transformation of ourselves and world conditions-such are the prerequisites for a new kind of warrior. A warrior
not for war, but for peace. In the words of Albert Camus, "Peace is the only
battle worth waging."

We should not assume that the relative quietude of this
moment, in terms of social and political activism, is necessarily apathy or
even denial. Many of us are not ignoring what's happening so much as grieving.
We will cry and then we will begin again. We will pray to become new men and
women, big enough and wise enough to give birth to new life within ourselves
and the world around us.

A prodigal generation-one
that has partied so hard and long we can't even remember when the party started-has suffered enough from our own primarily
self-inflicted misery that at last we are turning our attention en masse to the
suffering of the world. And for those of us who are American citizens, never
has there been a year more critical for the effort at global transformation
than the year 2004. No election in American history has mattered more to the
future of the world.

The reclamation of American democracy for the principle of
government of the people, by the people and for the people is the central, most
critical issue of our time. Should we make this change-from government as basically a servant of big business to
government as servant to the highest, most noble aspirations of humanity-we will have contributed greatly to the
task of righting our world.

When our citizenship is viewed, as it was by Mahatma Gandhi
and by Martin Luther King, Jr., as part of the spiritual quest to create the
"beloved community," then politics takes on more than mere material
significance. Politics is a contest for the spirit of our public sphere. "It is
the mission of our generation to save the soul of America," said King.

We can do this. We were born to do this. Through the grace
of God, it is not too late.

Marianne Williamson

Marianne Williamson is the author of Healing the Soul of
America, A Woman's Worth, and A Course in Miracles, among other books. She
hosts a new progressive radio program, The Marianne Williamson Show; see
www.MarianneRadio.com.